Redhead and Skaterboy
by AliceMitch09
Summary: Coincidence has a funny way of showing how skinny love how they should work out. She's plain oblivious, while he's battling himself with confusion. So, brother dearest and friends march to their rescue. Sequel to 'Misaki meets Misaki'. TWO-SHOT. Re-uploaded the first shot.
1. Invitations

**A/N: **_  
_

**so, there was this girl in dA who really liked my idea and wanted me to make a sequel...i didn't want to. But i eventually did after numerous inspirations hitting me hard. So, here's a sequel to 'Misaki meets Misaki' damn do i suck at titles /sobs**

**SO, this is a short two-shot story since there are fics I need updating on. And...yeah...I still have to finish that Feudshipping fic my sister requested from me. HAHAHA, i'm advertising here.**

**I am on a FEELS/FANGIRLINGORGASM over BUNNYMUND(HUGH JACKMAN BITCHES!) and JACK FROST(CHRIS PINE ASSWIPES!) WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~ **

**I am SO inlove with Fifty Shades of Grey and Darker. No, not because of the sexual themes, but because of the hard hitting angst and bitterness between the two. SRSLY, go read it NOW.**

**Okay my rambling as got to STOP.**

**Disclaimer: K is obviously nawt moine. So is the mentions of 2 authors i'm currently sinking my teeth into. Misaki Akatsuki is 100% mine.**

**reuploaded: 11/25/12. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I laughed at the last shiznits I added at the last part! xD give me your thoughts okay? I wanna know whatcha think of the add ups. And I swear that the next will be soon if you fill me up with your thoughts :) Enjoy folks~**

* * *

_Sigh. _The young redhead released an agitated yet strained-like breath as her brown eyes kept themselves occupied to the concrete ground. Her mind was in a haywire despite the loud music emanating off from her headsets, blurred emotions and nautical nonsense swirled around her brain as she legitimately recalled her reason to walk to her big brother's HQ on a Saturday at **8 in the morning.**

At early 6 am, she got an "urgent" call from her brother ordering her to arrive at Homura at 8 am **sharp** or else, then shuts hangs up. And then she groggily turned to her alarm clock and took notice the time and day for him to call, Misaki cursed him with every known curses he never knew she knew.

By 6:59 am, she finally (and grudgingly) gets out of bed, rushing to take a quick shower.

At 7:13, she lazily puts on her underwear, a hanging vintage tee, gray shorts, her favorite jacket and a gray beanie. She settled to leave her flowing sunset red hair long and finishing her outfit. Nodding proudly to herself, she helped herself to a quick breakfast consisting of 2 bananas, oatmeal and some milk.

By 7:33, she grabbed her favorite sneakers and was already out of her dorm.

_Really, what does aniki want so early in the damn Saturday morning?_ She thought inwardly, observing a cat pass by her through thick lashes.

"This had better be worth waking up so early in the damn morning for." She muttered angrily under her breath.

* * *

Humming to himself, the 26-year old Kusanagi absentmindedly fetched himself a gin and tonic with a squeeze of lime, stirring it blatantly. His devilishly handsome face had rested against the palm of his hand, awaiting for the double doors to open and reveal his little sister.  
Oddly enough, Anna, who was seated beside Totsuka, eyed the door curiously as well. Seemingly awaiting the presence of the young teen as well. Which was quite rare.

As far as he knew, Anna was a very tight-fisted and stoic 11-year old. And having some sort of attachment to weirdos like Mikoto and Totsuka made her look like a mascot. And when with her sister, it just seemed awkwardly cute.

_Ugh, you're thinking pedo thoughts Izumo, stop it. _The blonde reprimands to himself mentally, taking a sip from his glass.

The chiming of the doors caught his attention, a soft voice politely greeted Totsuka and Anna and light footsteps were heard directing to his direction. As if on cue, Kusanagi turned to the 16-year old teen, smirking at the pout on her face.

"Yo Misa, sorry for calling on such short notice."

"Yeah, thanks for that. I _really_ appreciate you calling me 6 in the morning on a **Saturday**, during a **week long break**." She says sarcastically to him, glaring at him with her brown eyes.

The blonde man rolls his eyes on her. He hears Totsuka sigh apologetically for Misaki's sake while Anna was all but silent, her eyes deemed to have an amused expression at Misaki's outburst.

"So, what brings my presence here aniki?" She starts, just wanting to have this over with so she can continue on with her adventures with John Green and E.L. James back at her dorm.

Putting his glass at the bar, he reaches for his inside pocket and hands her a scrap of paper. Misaki raises her brow warily at him, then at the paper.

Stretching to get the paper from his hand, she slowly opened to inspect the contents and almost slapped herself silly in the head when she realized what it was – a grocery list.

" You…Have…GOT…to…be…kidding…me." she deadpanned.

Kusanagi only smirked at her, ruffling her hair nonchalantly.

* * *

Rolling swiftly to the beat of the music from his headphones, the young teen quickly drifted through the crowd with ease. He had this expression of content and smug written all over his young face. Even with his eyes closed, he can perfectly tell which way to turn left, right, sideways or to a full stop. Instincts, he may call it. But it's one of the perks of being a skater boy, and he knew it.

Soothing urban jazz played from his ear drums to the highest volume, loud enough for any normal person to hear. Totsuka did say he'd go deaf from its volume. But he proved him wrong countless times, HA!

Seeing the familiar building before him, he kicked off from his board and saddled it to his arm. With one hand, he pushed the door open greeting with his usual casual presence.

"OSU!" he greeted, waving a hand in the air.

Totsuka looked up from his book, smiling warmly at him "Hello there Yata"

"Oi, Yata-chan" called some Homra members whose eyes were glued to their gadgets.

Mikoto-san merely peeked an eye to him and grunted in response.

Kusanagi, who was currently on the phone, spared him a short wave at the sight of him. Walking towards the newbies, his day was finally in motion. Talking, laughter, updates, beating up, scolding and lazing was all there is to this place. It sure as hell beats staying at home doing nothing or being forced to be friendly with his neighbors, much likely…females.

And speaking of females, _where was Anna?_

Lifting his head, he took a quick inspection of the place in search of the familiar blonde gothic girl. Alas, she could not be found. Turning to Bando, he asked "Oi, where's the little runt?"

"Hmm? Anna? I dunno, she wasn't here when I came here."

Turning to Rikio, he asked the same question only to have the same answer.

"Why're you suddenly so interested in looking for her?" teased Eric, earning a whack in the head from the irritated Yata.

"Shut up, I'm just asking ya prick" he growled.

Truth be told, there was just an unnerving feeling going on within in. Like something wasn't right. He was and wasn't at the same time intrigued at such feeling. It was unsettling, but curiously funny.

Clearing his head from such thoughts, he returned his direction to their card game while discussing the latest going on. While they were playing, Kusanagi had finally finished talking over at the phone and sighed gratefully.

"Well?" Totsuka asks, putting his bookmark on the page he was reading and turned his full attention to the blonde.

Kusanagi smiled a little, running his hand through his blond locks. Looking at the time in his watch, he muttered something under his breath agitatedly. Something in between the lines of "what's taking them so long?" and "they better not be in some trouble"

"Oi," he whispered quietly "what's eating Kusanagi-san?"

They shrugged "Dunno, ever since we came here, he was kinda bipolar" they whispered deathly silent.

"Bipolar?" he wanted to laugh.

"Yeah, on one phone call, he was jolly and flirty. The next, he's screaming and cussing down. Like shifting to demon and angel"

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeh?"

* * *

Two minutes into the game, and his mind wanders. Randomly going through his misadventures in the past week. Oddly enough, seeing Mikoto-san's spiky red hair reminded him of someone who had similar roots.

And then, all thoughts began to focus on one thing.

It was like a week since he last saw her, Akatsuki Misaki. Partly, it had been an eventful and uneventful spur of events.

Like, when he had accidentally cut her side bangs while she was sewing her brother's clothes leaving an angry Kusanagi-san frantic at the sight of its unevenness despite her liking towards it. He had almost died under his clutches. He had walked her to the train station after that.

Then there was that one time he had spotted her in a music store swaying her head to the beat and singing to the lyrics animatedly. He remembered her flustered face when he caught her, he laughed so hard that he earned a painful kick in the shin from her. They had spent hours together browsing and listening to music, sharing their favorites every once in a while. He walked her to the train station after that event.

And, there was his birthday. She surprised him by handing him a present containing skateboard set- fresh new wheel, replacements in case it broke and other tools and they spent the whole day playing at the arcade together…as friends. He blushed at the memory of a random lady calling them a couple; she was all too distracted with beating someone on the Tekken game. And as usual, he had walked her to the train station afterwards.

She's been dropping by more lately as promised. Probably because her big brother's been missing her too much if he remembered so clearly. Or probably she had too much free time on her hands.

And every time she'd visit, with or without being told to, he'd walk her to the train station. A habit that he fondly grew on and for good reasons!

Ever since she shared of her almost-rape experiences, he began to grow frantic and wary towards her. Well, he was doing this for Kusanagi-san! The guy was probably too busy to bring her himself, or probably still choked up in guilt for failing to protect her.

_Geez, can't he get over the fact that she forgave him? He _thought, sparing him a glance over his shoulder.

Clouded by his thoughts over her, the doors blasted open revealing Anna with an ice cream on her hand.

"Ah, welcome back Anna and Misaki" greeted Totsuka cheerily, walking towards them. Yata jumped at the sound of her name, lowered down his cards and turned to the door.

Misaki looked fairly bored and exhausted and aggravated, directing her scowl towards her brother behind the bar. Her short uneven side bangs were as is, cascading down her shoulders. Soft features spared him even though she had her face sideways to him. She was too angry to notice him, and he noticed why at the sight of four plastic bags on each hand.

"Aha, Misa, welcome back~" he greeted cheerily, dodging her anger aside.

"I hate you right now aniki"

He tutted at her disapprovingly while wriggling his fingers admonishingly.

"Ah, but you promised me you'd help me"

She rolls her eyes "Whatever just tell me where can I start."

Kusanagi smiles briefly at her shot temper then points at the door on the far left of the bar, smiling knowingly at her "Just cook whatever you feel like cooking that's enough to feed these hungry people"

Nodding obediently at him, she starts to make her way to the said room when she felt a hand brush over hers. Looking up, Misaki was surprised that Yata had helped her with the bags. He had an impassive face on, which almost surprised the redhead considering that he usually would nudge or ruffle her head every time she'd drop by.

"Yo" she greeted cocking her head to the side, searching for his eyes.

He looked at her in the eye for a while, before half-smirking at her. "Yo"

Watching their exchange, Totsuka and Kusanagi exchanged glances and nodded with approval before returning to the two teens.

Anna, who was between the two, felt out of place and neglected (but still had a straight face on) tugged on the girl's shorts making her look down at the child.

"Hmm?"

"Can I help cook?" Anna stated each word very slowly and softly. The corners of her mouth were a mess from the strawberry ice cream she had.

Misaki beamed aimlessly at the young girl and nodded.

"Okay Anna, you can help. Just be careful okay?" she instructed kindly while licking her thumb to wipe away the smudges on Anna's face in a motherly manner.

Yata watched the scene in awe. He held his tongue for that manner to stare at another side of Misaki he never knew.

* * *

Putting the plastic on the island counter, Misaki whistled in fascination at the glorious kitchen before her.

No doubt the high modern kitchen design was Totsuka-san's doing. Red bricked walls with dark wooden cabinets, black and white tiled floors, black granite island counters, topnotch appliances, cute bubble lamps hanging from above and state of the art silver sinks rearing a beautiful view of the outside. A quaint little potted flower stood by the window sill of which Misaki couldn't help but giggle at.

"What's so damn funny?" he inquired, mirroring her actions to put the plastic bags.

Shaking her head from her stupor, she swiftly took out a hair tie from her wrists – which held like a gazillion hair ties in different colors – and tied her hair into a messy ponytail. And then she picked up Anna and hoisted her to sit on the island to tie up her hair in twin pigtails.

"There, aren't you a cutie Anna-chan~" she said pleasingly in a sing song.

Anna merely grunted, avoiding herself from any emotion but showed a voice of approval.

"Now then, what shall we cook for today Chef Anna?" the redhead asked, hanging her bag by the door and retrieved three aprons. Yata remained silent and just observed her move around the kitchen with ease.

"Stir fry, fried rice, miso soup, chicken curry, beef teriyaki, fried shrimp, sukiyaki nabe, okonomiyaki, tiramisu, pudding, milk shake, rame-"

"Oi, oi, oi, she's a person not a miracle worker you runt." Yata ticked, sweat dropping at her many demands of food and to the new found knowledge that little Anna had a monstrous appetite.

"Haha, now, now, don't be so rash Yata-chan, she was merely suggesting foods for me to cook. Though, I'm not sure we can have nabe, tiramisu and okonomiyaki with the budget aniki gave us." Tapping a finger to her lips in thought, a wide grin spread in a flash on her face at an idea "Let's just have some stir fry, fried rice, shrimp and some stew alright Anna-chan? Oh! And you can bake some cookies on your own for dessert, I'll teach you!"

The young blonde nodded impassively at the teen and then jumped off the island.

"Now roll your sleeves and put this on you two." She instructed to them both taking Yata by surprise.

"Huh, me?" he pointed to himself in disbelief.

Misaki rolled her eyes "Duh, of course you and Anna. What's the point of assisting me to the kitchen anyways?" she muttered, putting on her apron and tucked her side bangs.

As he remained stupefied at her demand, glaring at the apron on his hand, he heard her sigh as she walked towards him. Having the authority to put it on herself and adjust it so it fit perfectly on him and rolling up his sleeves for him.

Their wary closeness built off a steam within him, rushing all the blood to his face with every feel of her hands on his skin. Her hair was tickling his nose and he swore he smelled the faintest smell of citrusy lemon from her hair, how intoxicating it was to his senses.

"There, all done." Misaki said, looking pleased with her handiwork.

"Now" she started, tightening the apron around her slim waist "please fetch me the wok, pan and pot please. Oh, and please cook us some rice please Yata-chan, you do know how to cook rice right?" she teased, earning a hard angry flush from him.

"O-Oi! Of course I know how to cook rice. Idiot." He muttered angrily, turning away from her.

Throughout the process of their cooking, Yata was amazed at how lively she can be while cooking. Lively and fast. She was good, she proved to be a worthy future chef with her ability to work on 4 meals plus teaching an 11-year old girl how to bake cookies at the same time, with Anna and him assisting her of course.

At times, he'd sneak a glance up on her tucking a strand of hair behind her ear or wipe away a sweat on her forehead. Never once leaving her eyes on her work. She was such a dedicated cook. For some strange absurd reason, he wanted that _he _would do that to her.

_FUCK. What the fuckery am I thinking?! That's just…weird? Yeah. WEIRD. DOWNRIGHT WEIRD YA PRICK!_

"Hey Yata-chan" she called out of the blue, not taking her eyes off of the cooking meals below her.

He jumped in place, almost dropping the frying pan on his hand. He was tasked to work on the stir fry, while Anna was left to solely work on the cookies. So it was just the two of them on the stove with a short distance between them.

"Y-Y-Yeah?" he stammered. Oh no, he did **not** just stammer.

"How long have you known aniki?" she asked, being oblivious to his stammer. Seeing that the stew was heating up, she lowered the fire and added up a few more spices.

"H-heh? Kusanagi-san? Hmm…about…when I was 14 or 15 perhaps? Why?"

She shrugged faintly smiling "No reason maybe. Just wanted to get to know some things I guess."

"Che, well…for the last years I've known Kusanagi-san, I **never** knew he had a sibling. Let alone a younger half-sister."

Playfully hitting him with her hip, Misaki frowned.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Hitting her back with his hip to return the favor, he smirked cheekily down at her.

"I just thought that Kusanagi-san was more of an only child being that he hangs out with Mikoto-san a lot. Or has like…3 siblings running around making him some bipolarish kind of dude"

She snorted.

"Bipolarish?"

"Yep. One minute, he's fuming mad at the ruckus we've made. Then the next, he's acting all mature and classy with us. That should be a disease really."

"Haha, you're damn right about that Yata-chan."

It always dawned to him how Misaki seemed to have great pride when talking about her big brother. She prided with the way she'd poke fun at him, curse him to no end, and go on aimlessly about how much he's been frantic of her well-being for the past years of her life. Their symbiotic relationship as half-siblings never tore them apart, but it made things complicatedly astounding on both terms.

They had the same mother. But she never talks about her mother. Kusanagi-san does not talk about his mother often, nor does he ever mention her to Misaki. It was as if there was a strain of conflict uprooted between them. A dark entity he wanted to know but knew he had to keep his paws off.

And then it hit him, how he called her. It was way too familiar. Turning to her, a full frown embed his face causing her to look up.

"What's up?" she asked worriedly.

"I thought I told you you could call me by my first name." he grumbled.

She raised an eyebrow apprehensively as if to asses his words in her jumbled head.

"Misaki?" he nodded with a faint blush. "But I thought you hated being called that. And besides, I feel like I'm having a rival with the same name but different gender and all."

He scoffs, flipping the vegetables on the wok without even looking. He was getting good at this.

"Yeah, but…" he paused, halting in flipping the vegetables.

"But?" she repeated, stressing the _u_ for too long.

"Never mind" Yata says, shaking it off. Turning off the stove, he took out a few large platters and set the stir fry on it.

He heard her whistle at his work, causing an immediate flush on his face.

"Nice work Ya- err, Misaki."

He stiffened. Now that was a weird turn out of events. He felt more recognized to the sound of his name coming out from her mouth. It sounded so special coming from her.

Misaki awkwardly turned and fidgeted from her spot, stirring repeatedly on the pot. Seemingly avoiding his heated gaze while ignoring the heat creeping on her cheeks.

Anna had just finished making her cookies, and called unto Yata to help her put it on the oven. Quickly running to her side, he took the platter and set it on the oven pressing the buttons Misaki instructed to him.

"Well," she announced "looks like my stew's ready. Now it needs some taste testing." And now she was back to her bubbly self, remnants of her flush were slowly fading away. And in a flash, Anna was beside her looking excitedly at the stew.

Misaki chuckled heartedly and took a spoonful of it, blew on it carefully and held it to the young blonde.

"Ah, Anna. Be careful it's hot."

Taking small sips of the stew, her eyes lit up with emotion and they swore that they saw a mini-smile creep on her cheeks in a nanosecond.

"Delicious."

Misaki beamed shyly "Glad you like it." And then turned to Yata for his turn, he flushed yet again and tried to back out. But he was threatened by her look that read "eat-this-or-you-shall-never-skateboard-again" glare. He reluctantly took a sip, it was good. He's gotta hand it to her, she was a great cook-

And now she sip the remnants from the spoon as well, nodding with approval at her work as she turned off the stove.

Kneeling down to Anna, they talked about things he failed to hear then instructed her to set the meals so she and Yata would clear the kitchen. With Anna off to her task, Misaki looked up to Yata and smiled happily.

"Hungry?"

He smiled back but faltered at the sight of a browns smudge on the corners of her lip. Mirroring her actions earlier, he brought his hand to her face and brushed the smudge away with his thumb. Seeing the leftover stew from his thumb, he brought it to his face and licked it off causing her to dilate her eyes wide open at him.

"Starving."

* * *

"**ITADAKIMASU**!" the whole Homura gang yelled at the same time as they gorged greedily to the heaping hot piles of meal served before them.

"Oh god this is good!" Rikio exclaimed.

"Ah, heaven~" called out Shohei and Masaomi at the same time.

Eric merely grunted in approval alongside Anna and Mikoto-san.

Totsuka ate happily, lavishing the meal.

Chitose, Bando and Kosuke bombarded Misaki with questions about herself. Of which, she tried to evade but failed miserably. Yata, who was seated beside her, glowered at them dangerously from the corner of his eye not wanting to give anything away.

Kusanagi was merely enjoying the show, his sister's, Yata's and Anna's cooking being devoured by his gluttonous clan members. A tick was evident though from his head from the trio's rampant questioning about her and her private life.

"Are you single?" asked Chitose, smiling flirtatiously at Misaki making her feel uncomfortable.

"Uh…"

"Do you have a boyfriend?" asked Bando obnoxiously.

"Err…"

"What's your cup size?" Kosuke asked, the drip on his nose was not amiss.

"..."

"O-OI! What's up with the questions?" Yata yelled angrily, flushing from Kosuke's question "Can't 'cha see she's uncomfortable here?!"

"Ooh, someone's being overprotective here~" Tick.

"Arerere, is Yata-chan jealous?" Tick, Tick.

"Don't tell me you like Misa-" Tick, Tick, Tick!

Kusanagi's tick suddenly burst and he was quickly on his feet. All eyes were on him. He slowly made way around the table towards the trio who were staring at him curiously. Once he was behind them, he grabbed them by their necks and began to beat them to a pulp.

Misaki turned away from the scene and continued to eat her meal, almost losing her appetite in the process. The rest did the same except for Mikoto-san who was watching in amusement.

Totsuka looked at Misaki apologetically; Yata muttered something under his breathe and angrily took a shrimp.

From behind them, screams of pain and unadultered fury raged on with punches and kicks being thrown on.

"TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH MY LITTLE SISTER IN MY PRESENCE!"

Upon hearing this, Misaki buried her head on her hand and let out a frustrated breathe. Yata patted her sympathetically.

"Hang in there bro…"

"Thanks."

"You gonna finish your shrimp?"

"You can have it."

_**End of Part One :)**_


	2. The Breaking Wall

**A/N: Hi y'all, been a while. **

**WHEW, I hate school. It's been like forever since I've updated this, and I've almost lost my motivations to keep going. URGH. You guys have no idea how much I've been dying to update this. Hellz, I was surprised to realized that people actually like this. Even though I made Misaki sound like a ADHD kid, you still loved her. And for that, I am grateful /givesyouallvirtualhugs YAY! HAHAHAHA. Anyways, this is a biiiiit lengthy. It contains Misaki's life a bit. Oh, and I had to bear with a particular scene below. Please bear with me as well :**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING BUT MY OC AND THE PLOT.**

* * *

After they had all ate, leaving no leftovers not even the dessert Anna baked, the rest of the Homura clan laid on their seats. Feeling fat, full and satisfied, they could never be happier.

"AAH, I am so fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuull~" cries Bando, rubbing his bulging stomach in satisfaction.

Rikio nods with agreement, "Hm, hm. Right on there."

"That was a great meal Misaki-chan, thank you." Totsuka complimented the redhead, stretching over a hand to ruffle her hair.

Misaki muttered a 'thank you' under her breath, running her fingers through her sunset red hair. The redhead was oblivious to Yata's stare. From beside her, Yata had the strangest urge to reach over and run his finger through her silky scarlet locks too. Luckily, he managed to control himself well.

"Well," she addressed to her big brother, Kusanagi who had turned his cobalt eyes to her on time. He raised a blonde brow while resting his head on his palm. "Aren't you gonna tell me why I'm here other than to make you guys a sumptuous meal?"

The blond tilted his head slightly in question, then Kusanagi's mouth immediately formed into a small letter '_o', _then snapped his fingers as if he had a 'eureka!' moment.

"AHA! I do~"

Groaning mentally, her brown eyes rolled heavenward. "Well?" she asked impatiently, tapping her fingers on her glass of soda.

Smirking evilly, he seemingly turned to lean over…to Totsuka. Wait, what?

He was whispering something to the light haired lad who gave out a surprised look at the blond, muttering something to him in turn. Darting his eyes from him and then to Misaki in uncertainty. After what seemed like an hour of chitchat, Totsuka grumbled and looked at the redhead apologetically.

With a final look at Kusanagi, he sighed and clasped both hands to his chest like he was in prayer accompanied by a small forgive-me-for-this smile.

"Sorry, but Izumo promises to tell you _after_ you clean up the dishes."

"…Ex-squeeze me?" she stared in horror at her brother who has evil smirk on his face.

"And Yata-chan,"

Said skater boy flinched at the sound of his name. "Hai?"

"Go help her."

"ECK-"he had almost choked on his own saliva "W-What?!"

All eyes were on the two teens, then to Totsuka, and then to (evil) Kusanagi. Mikoto stifled his laughter, as did Eric, Bando and Anna.

Misaki's eye twitched in irritation, glaring her brown eyes at her brother across her. He only smiled back, unaffected by her murderous glare that sent shivers down Yata's spine. It went on for a full minute until Kusanagi winked at her. She suddenly stood from her seat her chair falling behind her with a loud 'thud'.

Everyone held their breathe in suspense, but easily calmed down when she started clearing up the table. Yata watched her dumbfoundedly before coming to senses to join her clear up the table.

"You better have a good reason for this aniki." she grumbled as she walked pass by him.

"I always do Misa~" he promised, winking at her again.

But this time, she wasn't glaring at her. She was shaking her head in irritation but laughing heartily at her brother's foul play. No wonder Kusanagi-jii-san - his dad and her other father figure - would have troubles dealing with him.

Setting the pile of plates on the counter next to the sink, Misaki took a moment to readjust her ponytail and stretch out her limbs before she headed on with the dishes.

Beside her, Yata placed his pile of plates on the sink. He filled the tub with water, and the other he mixed water and dishwashing detergent. Once the first tub was full, he closed the faucet and immersed the plates unto the soapy water and began washing in silence. He had almost forgotten that Misaki was right beside him, watching in shock.

"W-what?" he stammered in annoyance.

"Y-You know how to wash plates?" she was clearly surprised.

Yata rolled his eyes, feeling insulted on his behalf. Almost forgetting the aprons, he took them from the island counter and put it on him and rolled up his sleeves.

"_Baro_, of course I know how to wash plates." he scoffed, taking her apron and putting in on her. A blush crept on his cheeks as he tied it behind her neck; she was much too oblivious to even notice the redness spreading across his face.

Instead, Misaki had not once taken her eyes off him, she wasn't over her shock. Her shock lasted for half a minute before her lips began to twitch and before she knew it, she was giggling at him. Further annoying him.

"Oi, what's the fuck's so fucking funny?"

Misaki stopped, trying to put a straight face on. Looking back at him, she failed miserably and giggled even more.

"I-I'm sorry, j-just…" she breathed, turning to his side to wash a plate. "I never knew you had a domestic side to you."

A small smile forming on her lips, an honest and sincere smile. He can't help but smile back.

"Yeah well…" scratching his hair under his beanie, he stared at the water absentmindedly searching for the right words. "I used to do dishes when I was young, guess I was used to it and all."

"Hmm," she bypassed him to take his place. The two worked side by side with Yata washing and rinsing and Misaki drying the plates. When suddenly, she began to say something really random."Aniki was horrible with dishes back then."

Taken by surprise, Yata flinched and turned towards the redhead. "Huh?"

"Aniki." She said, emphasizing the last vowels. "He wasn't very good with washing the dishes back then." At this, she paused and narrowed her eyes. "Actually, he never was good at any domestic chores."

Yata snorted loudly glad that they were away from earshot from any of the Homura members, more particularly from a certain blond man's earshot. Misaki chuckled heartily from beside him, smirking lightly from the memory.

"So, who does the chores?" he asked.

"I do."

"Really?"

She hums with a single nod.

"You guys lived under the same roof?" she nods and hums again.

"B-But, how is that even possible? Do your dads both see eye to eye? Is your mother okay with this arrangement? How-"

"My dad died when I was 8." She blurted, cutting him off.

He froze, the dishes lay forgotten on the tub and his attention now stuck to the redhead beside him. A heavy silence filling between the two. There was this look of sudden sadness and longing in her eyes masked by her ever straight poker face.

Yata suddenly felt bad. "Oh, I-I'm sorry…"

"Hmm, no worries. It's not your fault, plus, you didn't mean it."

Acting like nothing happened and using his momentary shock for leverage, she continued washing the dishes. Yata almost felt numb from being frozen up for what seemed like a while. And when he gradually came to, he returned to washing the dishes. And frankly? Though it felt illegal, he just had the need to keep her talking. He didn't really know much about her anyway!

"So uh…" he started, feeling really awkward for hearing his own voice. Misaki watched him from the corner of her eye. "W-What happened…to…him?"

"He uh, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. On the day he knew, I had just turned 8. And then a week later, we moved to Tokyo. I'm from Kyoto by the ways."

When all dishes were finished, the two drained the tubs and scrubbed the kitchen tiles. In order to ensure that not a speck was seen and that the place as spotless, just all sparkly and new.

Taking off the apron and setting it to the side, Yata watched her actions very carefully. Sure he didn't know much about her – just her extreme liking to natural views, where she's studying, the fact that Kusanagi's her half-brother, her love for punk music and that she's a diehard bookworm – or her family background. But if there's one thing he does know about her, it's of the way how a certain topic can affect her. Like how she's shaking or how she averts her eyes or how she's keeping to look straight.

"Hey," he calls, nudging his hand to her head. "cheer up bookworm, it's boring when you're this emotional."

At this, she stops and stares. Her wide brown eyes staring back into his steely ones, which for once seemed to have softened. Managing a small smile, she swipes his hand away.

"Showoff, stop acting out of character."

"Y'know you think I'm awesome."

"Says who? Your mom?"

"S-Shut up!"

A few teasing, a battle of hand swipes and elbowing later, Misaki and Yata exit the kitchen in search of a certain blond man, only to find him talking with another blonde. Only this blonde was a woman, a _beautiful_ woman with shoulder length wavy hair dressed in a pink chiffon dress and pairing white pumps.

She sends him one final smirk before turning on her heel, strutting towards the bar stand where Mikoto and Totsuka sat. Oddly enough, not only did she seem to be acquainted with the blonde man, but also with Totsuka and Mikoto, which was rather surprising to Yata. Never in his life has he ever seen any woman, other than Misaki and Anna, set foot on their HQ. This was all too new to him.

As she draws closer and closer to the bar, Misaki could faintly tell that the woman has put on make up. She also smelled like strawberries. All too girly, she thought. But she would be lying if she'd say that this woman was awfully familiar, she just can't put where she's seen her before.

Acting all too comical, Misaki and Yata stares as the woman sits herself between Mikoto and Totsuka, while Kusanagi trails behind her. He mumbles unintelligent words under his breathe, she barely hears them as she is engrossed into her conversation with Mikoto and Totsuka. Going comical again, Misaki and Yata tilt their head to the right when they both couldn't understand a thing going on.

"Yata, do you have any idea what's going on?" asks Misaki.

"Beats me."

Misaki tilts her head to the left, her head brushing lightly against his.

"Do you know her?"

"Nope." Misaki creates a popping sound at the 'p', still staring at the new guest.

"She seems to know you though." He says. "Are you sure you don't know her?"

"Dude, don't ask me questions I can barely answer."

For what seemed like hours of chatting, the blonde woman turns towards the teens' direction, her blue eyes meeting Misaki's brown ones.

"So you're Akatsuki Misaki I presume?" Misaki blinked once, then twice, and then she nods.

She smiles fondly, resting her chin on her folded hands. "You've grown so much…"

Misaki laughs nervously, pushing Yata's head back with her finger.

"Oya, Misa-chan, not sure if you remember her, but this here's Seri Awashima. A friend of mine back then." At this, the younger teen waves weakly.

"Err, hi…" she manages, almost hating herself for making it sound like a squeak. She's not 8 for crying out loud! She stares at the blonde woman, then to her big brother, and then back to the blonde woman, and then at her brother. Something within clicks.

"Uh, not to be rude or anything…but aniki," she then turns towards her brother, a pout on her face. "isn't there something you have to tell me?"

All eyes suddenly turn to the blond man.

Yata's curiosity suddenly perked up, she did mention that he has something to tell her, making her go through all this trouble and small favors in exchange for what he has to say. He shuddered, some brother Kusanagi-san was.

Sighing in defeat, Kusanagi took off his glasses to wipe away any fog before putting them back on. He eyed at the blonde woman, making a face of which she returned with a smug look. Out of nowhere, Anna popped in between Yata and Misaki, with a big brown box in hand. She turns to Misaki, holding the box with one hand and the other, she wrapped around her hand.

"Misaki…" the young girl said, tugging her hand a bit.

"E-Eh?"

"Come, come…"

"Oi, where're you taking her runt?"

"…Misaki…come…"

"B-But…why?"

Anna said nothing, just tugged her hand harder, pulling her towards the stairs. Misaki spared her brother a glance for an explanation.

"Just this one last favor Misa-chan, I promise." He says with an all too easy smile. "I promise."

"Izumo, really…" Seri says, shaking her head.

The four watch as the two girls climbed the stairs together hand-in-hand, and when the sound of a door shuts, the adults resume to their own business. Yata still clueless as to what that was all about, and so he just had to ask, "Kusanagi-san, what was-"

"Really Izumo, you're as difficult as ever…" says Totsuka, narrowing his eyes at the blond man. The blond man sighs once again, a bit loudly this time. He smirks lightly, stretching his limbs over his head. "Well, y'know me…"

Making his presence known, Mikoto spoke in a bit of a slur tone. "A pain in the ass."

Everyone snorts except for the blond man, Seri and Totsuka showing no way of keeping it in while Yata tries to contain it in. Fearing for his very life if he ever was caught laughing.

"Shut up Mikoto, nobody asked." The redhead snores in return much to his annoyance.

Seri then stood from her seat, making her way to the stairs. "Well, I'm off to check on Misa-chan."

"First door to your right." Totsuka provided.

"Thanks." And then she was gone, leaving the three men.

It was then that Yata noticed that they were the only ones present, the rest of the Homura members were nowhere to be seen. It was only hours or minutes ago that they were all eating lunch, giving life to this place, and now, it feels dead. Time sure flies fast.

"Yata-chan." Kusanagi calls in a stern tone.

"H-Hai?!"

Flexing his index finger as a sign for him to go towards him, Yata carefully made his way towards the blond man. Totsuka watching him walk off with a smile.

When he was about a foot close towards the blonde man, he noticed that Kusanagi had put on his jacket. He started to be skeptical.

"Let's go for a walk."

* * *

_Well…**this** is awkward._ The skater boy thought, feeling anything but awkward as he and Kusanagi walked side by side.

At first, he could just decline the offer being that he didn't feel like 'taking a walk' with the blond man. But then again, he was left with no choice. And why was Totsuka acting like it was normal? It couldn't be…_could_ it?

As if reading his mind, the Kusanagi says. "Relax Yata-chan, nothing weird's gonna happen. I just want to talk to you."

Yata looks at Kusanagi for long time. His face scrunches up a little.

"Talk?" he repeats, halting in his steps.

The older man says nothing; Yata takes this as a yes. But what would they talk about?

Kusanagi finds a bench facing the running river with a sakura tree behind, a not so solitary part of the park, but definitely one place where it's comfortable to have a talk. A place away from earshot where no one can hear him talk. He sits down in silence, his legs apart with a hand on either thigh. Yata watches him, seeing how serious he's been before he settles to sit down beside him.

"So…what're we gonna talk about?" Yata asks carefully, cautiously sitting at a safe distance from him.

"Misaki." Kusanagi says out easily, further shocking the brunette. "I see you two have been rather close lately." A blush crept up the brunette's cheeks, luckily, the blond hadn't notice.

"O-Oi, a-are ya makin' fun of me or something Kusanagi-san?" Sputters the brunette teen instantly, feeling almost shameful for sounding so pathetically embarrassed.

"Nope. On the contrary, it's caught my attention that you two have been closer than usual…"

"WE'RE NOT DATING OR ANYTHING IF THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!" Yata sputtered again, feeling his cheeks burning.

Kusanagi looks up, startled by Yata's sudden sputtering. He couldn't help but laugh. Kids these days.

"What are you saying?"

Yata's blush only intensified. "I-I just thought-"

"I was about to say, that I'm glad that you two are friends." Yata manages to calm down. "She doesn't really get along with much people and pretty much prefers to be alone, it worries me y'know? And seeing you two hang out together, it sets me at ease…at least she's met her match. Someone as loud and about her age to be her friend."

Instead of being overwhelmed, Yata couldn't help but feel insulted by his last sentence. Though he made a point and one mistake – yes, they were both temporarily loud, but they were _not_ the same age; Yata's older by three years – something seemed to bug him off.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Kusanagi stared before him, watching the water lap over the rocks as they run.

"Tell me Yata-chan, how much do you know about Misa-chan?"

Yata blinked, he did not expect that.

"Err…_why_ are you asking me this?"

"Just answer me Yata-chan." He says seriously, lacing his fingers together.

_Kusanagi-san's acting really weird, _he thought.

"Not much really. Just that…she's really into music, she's got a part-time job at this music shop close to the school, she goes to Ashinaka, says she hates the uniform, she's a good but lazy ass student and that you two are half-siblings."

"I see…" he crouches over, putting his laced fingers to his face. "She hasn't told you anything about her life?"

Yata flinches. "Well, she might've…" suddenly, the memory of her telling him all those experience seemed too much. He remembers when she first told him of her experiences and where her brother had failed his part to protect her. He didn't feel like saying all those, anything that may bring up bad memories from the past.

As if reading his mind once more, Kusanagi spoke his mind. "I failed as a brother to her three times." He then shut his eyes and repeated. "Three times."

He didn't want to, but eventually, he did. "Yeah, she told me."

Kusanagi smiled bitterly. "I broke her old man's promise. I failed to protect her." He laughed bitterly too. "Cheesy right? Promising a dying man that you'd protect their baby girl, being that you're their half-brother and all, you'd be her protector. But I failed, three times in fact."

The brunette clenched his fists but he listened on. "Where is this going Kusanagi-san?"

Kusanagi said nothing, taking his silence for a minute. An impregnating silence used for him to reminisce a bit.

"When she was just a few weeks old, the old hag abandoned her for my dad. I was her first child after all, therefore, her topmost priority. After that, she returned home and everything was well. But back then, I knew she was hiding something from me. 8 years passed, over that time, Mom and Dad were fighting everyday. There was one time where Mom took off for about 3 years before coming back as if nothing happened. The old hag was a reckless woman, while my old man was a bit of someone with a good image. He's a good guy, but sometimes, he lets his image get the best of him. When I was in middle school I think, time and time again, they were on and off the court. It was draining. So one time, I tagged along with my old man, just wanting to see him in action. Sadly, he had me wait outside the courtroom for hours. It was boring as hell. And that's where I first met Misa-chan." At this, a fond smile crept across Kusanagi's face.

"It was amazing because, the first time I met her, I already felt like we had a special bond or something. We talked and talked for a while, boy was she a joy to be with. Whenever my old man was off to court, I'd tag along just so I could see Misa-chan. At that time, I didn't know she was my mother's one night stand consequence, no. At that time, I only saw a little girl who brightened up my days. I just saw Misa-chan. After a month or so, I was finally informed of my old man's case. The funny thing was, it was in regards with the old hag. My old man was defending Misa's old man; he was opting for foster care of which the foster family was mine. Of course, the old hag didn't want that, says she has enough mouths to feed and that Misa-chan wasn't her child. But Dad kept pestering on about how it's a mother's duty to care for her child, illegitimate or not. It was a tough case, 'specially when you have a tough cookie."

"She did mention that her dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer." Yata forgot to mention, wondering how him being diagnosed became part of the problem. So far, he's beginning to understand a bit of Misaki's family background, understanding how strained she was as a child. But so far, he doesn't understand as to why Kusanagi should be telling him this. He best decides to save his question for later.

"Well, during that time, he and I managed to talk. He was a cool guy, sadly, with only 4 months left to live." At this, he sighs heavily, running a hand through his blond locks and keeps his eyes to the ground. "Surprisingly, he and my old man got along, but with my Mom, not so much. One time, I overheard a conversation between the two, Misa-chan and her dad stayed at a motel at that time. I learned that Misa-chan's old man just found out on her birthday that he has Stage 3 stomach cancer and that his chances of survival were slim. My old man asked about some other relatives to take her in, but most of Misa-chan's relatives are either dead or out of the country. So he opted for foster care and talked to my mom about it years ago, but my Mom said she'd rather have Misa-chan at an orphanage than to keep her. But of course, her dad wouldn't have it and wanted Misa-chan to at least get to know her biological mom. In the end, my dad won the case and we took in Misa-chan. But a month later, her old man's condition worsened and worsened until he eventually died." Yata held his breathe, already finding difficulty to take in everything he had just heard. The question still burned inside him. "During his funeral, Misa-chan never left his side, even refused to go home and change or even eat. Eventually, I had to drag her away sometime. She thrashed and bashed, I tried calming her down, but all she did was pour her eyes out. I let her cry her eyes out, and man did she cry. It's the anniversary of his death."

He held out his hand, setting it into a straight line just by nose. "She was about this tall too…she was 8 back then, and man was she short."

A resigned silence filled, indicating that Kusanagi was finished with his tale.

Finally, Yata asked in a whisper. "…Why are you telling me this?"

Kusanagi sighs, stretching his limbs before him. "To tell you the truth…" His eyes turn upward with his back slouched against the bench. "I don't really know. I just felt like telling you something, being that you're Misa-chan's friend and all."

"A-Are you implying-"

"Nah, I'm not, don't think shit about that. All I'm trying to say is, and I can't believe I'm saying it, and I hells as can't believe that it's coming out of my mouth but…" sitting straight, he turns to the brunette teen and looks at him straight in the eye. The action sends an uneasiness feeling down the teen's system, but he feels the seriousness in his eyes and his voice when he says. "I'm leaving her to you Yata-chan. Take care of Misa-chan for me."

* * *

After their little talk, Yata felt like Kusanagi was hinting him with something. He just couldn't say what it was out loud, due to the fact that he was getting uncomfortable with that something. Also because, he was just feeling unsure with what he was trying to make him do in the first place.

Trying to rid of the thought, the teen had tried to think of something else that were more pressing matter than the ones at hand. Unknown to him, Kusanagi was smiling to himself at what seemed to be a job well done. Of course, only he was aware of that fact.

They had been gone for only an hour, the sky was set to an early twilight, but the day was yet to be finished.

Having arrived at their HQ, Yata suddenly remembered that if Misaki was to go back to the train station, then it was his sole duty to escort her. It felt like his sole obligation for some reason. But when they had entered the bar, he was surprised to find that a few Homura members were all dressed up comfortably, and a few – namely Totsuka and Mikoto-san – eyed two young females. All thoughts died the moment he saw scarlet. Misaki was all clad up in a black yukata in a light pink yukata with red butterfly prints, a darker red obi tied up in a butterfly knot, light sandals and her scarlet red hair bunched into a messy up do, leaving a few strands of hair to frame her face. And because her side bangs were uneven, the shorter side had been swept neatly to the side. Coming right beside her was Anna, also clad up in a yukata only that this was red like Misaki's hair with white flower prints and her pale blonde hair has been set up in twin low pigtails. The woman earlier, Seri Awashima, was still in her normal clothes, looking at the two young girls in satisfaction. The older woman was saying something to both girls causing the teen to flush as she pulls Anna close to her for leverage.

"Ara, Misa-chan's so cute!" cooed the blonde as he approached.

When Misaki looked up, she flushed even more, throwing punches at her older brother as he teases her. Dragging himself to the counter with his eyes stuck to the redheaded teen, he watched the two half-siblings make an exchange of conversation.

"ACK! If I knew this would happen, I should have never got out of bed!"

"HAHA, Misa-chan's so cute when she's angry~"

"Aniki, I'm serious! Quit teasing me!"

"Your cheeks puff when you're angry. Hee hee."

"Izumo really…" sighed Seri, putting a hand to her forehead. "Same as always." She muttered.

"Something's just never gonna change huh?" added Totsuka, smiling as always. Mikoto grunted, sounding like he was agreeing.

Then everything had gone too fast.

One minute, he and Kusanagi-san had just arrived at the bar, the next, he's teasing his little sister, then he goes to announce that they were off – of course, he was shell shocked since he wasn't informed of this, then they're at some festival. He was not following well.

Everything was just moving so fast; it could leave him dizzy if things kept running up at this pace.

So far, the only thing he managed to catch up was the reason Kusanagi-san had urged Misaki to drop by was so she could enjoy life a little, or so Kusanagi-san says. It had sounded like it was smothered up in sweetness and falsity.

"_She's been spending time in her little hole studying all day. She needs to live a little!"_

Pah, yeah right. Just admit that you miss her. Yata thought to himself, absentmindedly looking up at the alighted walkways.

It was just like any festival there was, the sights, the smell and the aura were all too familiar to take in. Visibly, he relaxed and lost himself to the festivity. Forgetting that he's a vanguard, forgetting that he should be going, forgetting that talk. Yeah, just forgetting for a while.

They ate, played and joined in with the festivity, indulging themselves and even laughing their heart out. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, even to the point of forgetting that they were a dangerous clan. But even so, it was a day well spent taking a break from tedious clan work. Heck, even Mikoto-san was participating in!

Curiously, Yata peered over to Misaki, finding her all smiley and relaxed, much like her usual self. Seeing this sets him at ease, just seeing her smile was enough for him. Misaki was holding hands with Anna, the two were having a light conversation over at the prizes they had just won and the things they could do. Earlier, she had stolen his beanie on the way here and he had to pry it out of her hands to get it back. He didn't like his beanie being taken away from him. Misaki only wanted to see his brown hair, liking the way how scruffy it was. Later on, he managed to pocket his beanie for a while.

As he watched them, he can't help but think back of the conversation he had with Kusanagi-san. _Damn_, just when he was forgetting about heavy shit. He looked at Misaki once more, surprised that he was seeing more than ever. A little while later, Anna had run off to Mikoto's side leaving Misaki on her own. At some point, everyone just happened to split up in the middle of the festival. Luckily enough, Yata had found himself stuck to Misaki, either because he was obliged to watch over her, or because he was worried that something may happen to her. But the funny thing happened, one second, she was right before her, and the next, she was gone.

_THE FUCK-_

"Yata-chan."

And just like that, she's in front of him, all wide-eyed and cutesy. GAH!

"D-DUDE! Don't scare me like that! You could've given me a heart attack!" he sputtered a bit loudly, attracting people's attention. She only blinked at him, a smile slowly crept its way to her mouth. Turning on her heel, she started walking, not saying anything for she knew he'd follow without question. Which was what he did, dutifully, regretfully and suspiciously.

Misaki trekked off further and further into the walkways until they had arrived at the endpoint of all the festivity, to the direction of the lake. Misaki led the way with such familiarity; skipping along the trail while humming a tune under her breathe, the way she wasn't looking back as they walked further and further away from the festival and how she took off her sandals when the wooden drawbridge came in sight. They had arrived at some huge wooden walkway, a bit dim as it would seem, there was but a single lantern at the entrance of the walkway of which Misaki took. Yata didn't understand the place, it seemed like it was fresh out of a horror movie.

"Oi, Misaki, what is this?"

Turning her head back, the usual smile had painted her features. "I want to show you something."

"Show me something?"

She nodded, taking a single step towards him, she takes his hand. He swore his breathe hitched, but he didn't let go. Her hands were surprisingly soft.

"Close your eyes."

"Say wha-"

"Just close them, trust me." The redhead said, a hint of childish glee evident in her voice.

Doing as he's told to, Yata shuts his eyes and waited for further instructions. He felt her starting to move, dragging him to a certain direction in the process. There was only darkness, the feel of her soft hand and the sound of her footsteps. She was leading him, curiosity got to him and he had almost forgotten how flushed he was from the very contact of their skins. After a while, he felt her stop.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now. Oh, and you might want to shut up too…"

As he opened his eyes, he noticed that they were farther from the festival but it was no longer dark. Instead, there were tiny little dots illuminating his view as dead silence fell. The dots swirled before him, startling him a little when he realized that it was a firefly. A harmless little firefly. But as he turned his head towards the lake, ten million fireflies greeted him, shining brightly against the moonlight as they gave life to the lake.

"Wow..." he whispered.

"Pretty right?" Misaki said beside him, he had almost forgotten that she was there. The lantern beside her had dimmed down a little, now resting on the floor. "My dad used to bring me here when I was young. He says that these little guys come around here only once, and that's during the festival days. He says that if you stay really quiet, they'd perform a dance just for you."

And just like that, wisps of tiny lights spiraled before them, creating shapes and changing sizes. They almost resembled fairy dusts with the way they moved, their actions almost choreographed. But even without music, they were dancing.

"You're the first person outside my dad to see this, aniki's never been here. You should feel lucky."

The child in him was delighted, he had unknowingly gripped unto Misaki's hand in anticipation. The action startled her, she snapped her head towards him only to find herself tongue tied at the expression on his face. She left it alone, squeezing his hand back and returned to the dancing fireflies. It was a magical sight to behold.

That night was truly magical for them both as the fireflies danced and danced, never ceasing to catch their attention and lighten their spirits. But as all great performances are, it had to end. It did not end with a big bang, or with sudden dispersal, but with something unexpected.

A few fireflies flew towards Misaki's direction, creating a tiara shape on her head and a pair of angel wings of which she laughed at. She almost looked like a princess to his eyes, a celestial princess with scarlet red hair. Then they had circled around their intertwined hands, surprising the two teens that they let go. As they did, they had began dancing again, this time around them! They were playing with Misaki while gliding and guiding Yata towards her, he was all but clumsy while she was acting really childlike. And before they knew it, he was standing right in front of her with either hands on her hips. The fireflies made a circle around them, large at first, but gradually smaller and smaller and smaller until there was no more escaping at what little space was given to them, her face pushed against his chest and his hands on her hips. Then they acted like fireworks and were gone, leaving two teens at a very awkward position.

They remained like that for a while, not that any of the two seemed to mind.

It was getting late and the others are probably looking for them, but these concerns didn't seem to come to mind at the moment. It just feels like some kind of moment between the two. He looked down at her and found the most fragile girl he's ever set eyes on. Frankly, she's the only girl whom he can act normal with without blushing or losing his cool. Everything suddenly felt like they clicked in place, he understood now of what Kusanagi-san was talking about.

After her little surprise, Yata took up the courage to do this.

"Oi, close your eyes."

"Eh?"

"Close them."

Giving him a skeptical look at first, she searched his eyes for something before finding herself complying to his wishes. Yata felt his breathe hitch at the sight of this; she almost looked like she was sleeping, so serene and relaxed and beautiful. Curiously, his hand flew to her temple, feeling the smoothness against his fingers tips before trailing them to her brows, her closed eyelids, her cheeks, her jaw, and then her neck. And without second thought, he cupped the nape of her neck and leaned in to press his lips against hers. He didn't know why he did it or how it came to thought, but all he knew that he just had to.

When he took a step back, he wasn't surprised but expected at the expression on her face. Just as he was about to explain, she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him for another kiss. Her hands found themselves curling his shirt and hair while his hands flew to her sides, holding her in place. It was all tender kissing before it turned to pecking, nipping and tongue dominance.

Without breaking their lip-lock Yata shoved her to a corner with both hands on either railing, trapping her in place as their kisses grew frantic and more heated. They finally broke with their lungs burned for oxygen, their foreheads resting against each other.

"Y-Yata-chan..." her hot breathe tickled his face.

"Misaki..."

She tried to avert her eyes, but couldn't. She bit her lower lip.

"W-Why are we- _mph!_"

"I'll be protecting you from now own." He said between kisses. "Y'hear me?"

"That doesn't explain you kissing me."

He wiped the smirk on her face as he deepened the kiss, dropping the whole fact of obligation and duty that his gut was giving him while pouring the pent up emotions and new found feelings he has for her. He wanted her to know how much he knew about her and how willing he was to uphold his promise.

As he poured and poured his heart out, she slowly began to feel those emotions of his and the new found knowledge he has of her. And with that, her wall began to shatter. Her vulnerability came crashing down. She began to cry.

He pulled away when the first droplets of tears streamed from her face, his thumbs at the aid to wipe her tears away. She only cried harder.

"Shh, it's alright Misaki..." he whispered, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

She threw her arms around him, burying her head into his chest as she cried, letting out all the emotions she's been bottling up.

"It's my turn to protect you now Misaki." Yata whispered to her ear, leaving a kiss there.

Her sobs began to slow down but her hands held unto him, she tightened her hold around him as he comforted her.

* * *

**P.S. I felt like Yata-chan sounds OOC here. Please let me know. Specifically, there was supposed to be a different ending to this. But then, I'm _me,_ so that's gonna be a major problem. /hitsself**


End file.
